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hotvintagepoll · 1 day

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Propaganda

Eartha Kitt (Anna Lucasta, St. Louis Blues)—My friend and I have a saying: NOBODY is Eartha Kitt. A thousand have tried, and they've all come up empty and will continue to do so. Everyone knows her for something: from "Santa Baby" to Yzma in Emperor's New Groove to Catwoman to making Lady Bird Johnson cry for the Vietnam War. She was a master of comedy and sex, an extremely vocal activist, and she aged like fine wine... I honestly don't know what I can say about her that hasn't already been said, so I'll stick to linking all my propaganda. Like what else do you want from me. She was iconic at everything she ever did. Literally name another. How can anyone even think of her and not want to absolutely drown?

Audrey Hepburn (My Fair Lady, Sabrina, Roman Holiday)—I know people nowadays are probably sick of seeing her with all the beauty and fashion merch around that depicts her and/or Marilyn Monroe but she is considered a classic Hollywood beauty for a reason. Ironically in her day she was more of the alternative beauty when compared to many of her contemporaries. She always came off with such elegance and grace, and she was so charming. Apparently she was a delight to work with considering how many of her co-stars had wonderful things to say about her. Outside of her beauty and acting ability she was immensely kind. She helped raise funds for the Dutch resistance during WWII by putting on underground dance performances as well as volunteering at hospitals and other small things to help the resistance. During her Hollywood career and later years she worked with UNICEF a lot. Just an all around beautiful person both inside and out.

We are in the quarterfinals of the Hot & Vintage Movie Women Tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Propaganda is not my own and is on a submission basis. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Eartha Kitt:

"A hot vintage woman who was not just known for her voice, beauty, poise, and presence, but also her unapologetic ways of speaking about how she was mistreated in the show business as a girl who grew up on cotton fields in South Carolina in the 1930s through the 1940s coming to Broadway first and then Hollywood."

"Have you watched her sing?? Have you seen her face?? Have you heard her talk?? How could you not fall instantly in love. She makes me incoherent with how hot she is."

"She can ACT she can SING she can speak FOUR LANGUAGES she is a GODDESS!!! Although she is (rightfully) remembered for her singing, TV appearances (Catwoman my beloved), and later film roles, her early appearances in film are no less impressive or noteworthy!! She’s an amazing actress with so much charisma in every role. She was also blacklisted from Hollywood for 10 years for criticizing the Johnson administration/Vietnam War, so. Iconic. Also Orson Welles apparently called her “the most exciting woman in the world.”

"She had such a stunning, remarkable appearance, like she could tear you to shreds with just a glance- but the most undeniable part of her hotness was her voice, and it makes sense that it's what most people nowadays know her for. Nothing encapsulates the sheer magnetism of her singing better than this clip of her and Nat King Cole in St. Louis Blues, she pops in at 2:49. Also I know it's post-1970 but her song that was cut from Emperor's New Groove is likely to make you feel Feelings."

"Even with as racist as Hollywood was in the 1950s and 60s, Eartha Kitt STILL managed to have a thriving career. She also once had a threesome with Paul Newman and James Dean, and called out LBJ over the Vietnam War so hard that it made First Lady Johnson cry. Eartha Kitt was talented, sexy, and a total badass activist."

Audrey Hepburn:

"She may be a wispy, thin little thing, but when you see that girl, you know you're really in the presence of something. In that league there's only ever been Garbo, and the other Hepburn, and maybe Bergman. It's a rare quality, but boy, do you know when you've found it." - Billy Wilder

Raised money for the resistance in nazi occupied Hungary. Became a humanitarian after retiring. Two very sexy things to do! [editor's note: not Hungary; Audrey was involved with the Dutch resistance. Source.]

"It’s as if she dropped out of the sky into the ’50s, half wood-nymph, half princess, and then disappeared in her golden coach, wearing her glass slippers and leaving no footprints." - Molly Haskell

"All I want for Christmas is to make another movie with Audrey Hepburn." - Cary Grant

where to begin......... i wont her so bad. i literally dont know what to say.

My dude. The big doe eyes, the cheekbones, the voice. The flawless way she carried herself. She was never in a movie where she wasn't drop dead gorgeous. Oh, also the fact she raised funds against the Nazis doing BALLET and she won the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her humanitarian work.

Growing up, Audrey Hepburn desperately wanting to be a professional ballerina, but she was starved during WWII and couldn't pursue her dream due to the effects of malnourishment. After she was cast in Roman Holiday, she skyrocketed to fame, and appeared in classics like My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany's. She's gorgeous, and mixes humor and class in all of her performances. After the majority of her acting career came to close, she became a UNICEF ambassador.

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No one could wear clothes in this era like she could. She was every major designer's favorite star and as such her films are time capsules of high fashion at the time. But beyond that, she had such an elegance in her screen presence that belied a broad range of ability. From a naive princess, to a confused widow, to a loving and mischievous daughter, she could play it all.

Look at that woman's neck. Don't you want to bite it?

#audrey hepburn #eartha kitt #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies quarterfinals

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slackerlifewhere · 2 days

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In defense of Ron Molan

Since I already wrote a post about Deruth, I'm going to make one for Ron as well because I'm absolutely confused why some readers hate him too.

Fair warning once again, if you haven't read or finished the first volume of TCF, please be prepared for SPOILERS. Thanks!

So...this is going to be a long post too. Be prepared lmao

Isekai and Abandonment

Like with Deruth, the most common thing some readers hate about Ron, is how he abandoned OG Cale and didn't seem to notice a difference when Cale and Kim Rok Soo got swapped.

Like I mentioned in my post about Deruth, please put yourself in their shoes before criticizing or hating them. Imagine this.

You noticed that a friend or family of yours, someone who you know for how many years, suddenly changed. The changes aren't obvious. There are some parts of their personality that are still them and some that have changed. What would you first think?

Transmigration? Long lost twin? Clone? Possession? No. The first thing you'll probably think is they have a problem that they can't tell you or maybe they just want to change. You'll be confused but you won't think too much about it. It happened but what are you gonna do about it? Ask them? And if they don't tell you why, would you push for it? Maybe you'll continue to watch and see if you'll find something incriminating but it won't ever answer your questions unless the other person talks.

So is Ron at fault for not noticing this after serving OG Cale since he was a baby (and changed his diapers lmao)?

Yes and no.

He should've asked Cale, former KRS, more about the topic. He should've pushed because he's an assassin. It's his job to know more. But he didn't push because there is some truth to Cale's first impression of Ron.

He cares for OG Cale but it's not enough for him to leave behind his thirst for revenge and completing his goals. And in all honesty, I find it logical for him to leave OG Cale to join Choi Han in TBoaH.

He lost his whole family to Arm, with only Beacrox as his reminder of what he lost. He was accepted as a butler for the Henituse family but that doesn't mean he forgot his past as an assassin. He'll always be an assassin and he'll leave behind whatever attachments he has depending on how useful that attachment is.

He only stayed in TCF because OG Cale was replaced with Kim Rok Soo. He was intrigued but not enough to completely leave his mission. It only changed when Cale got angry when he lost his arm and helped him gain a new one. He now owes Cale a debt.

Before, he owes the Henituse family a debt because they gave him a place where he and his son can hide in. He repaid that by being their butler and possible protector from other assassins or danger (tbh I dunno if they know he's an assassin). Still, his mind is focused on any opportunity to find and kill the organization that ruined his life. So it was easy for him to leave when he first noticed the connection Choi Han has with Arm.

Saying he abandoned Cale because he doesn't care is not completely wrong but it's also not completely right. He has layers. (Like Shrek and his onion lmao)

Lemon tea and Scary butlers

Another reason why some readers don't like Ron is, funnily enough, because of the lemon tea that he keeps giving Cale. And because he scares Cale.

Lemon tea? Seriously?

Some say Cale hates it and Ron keeps giving the drink. They say it shows that he doesn't care about his master and that he disrespects him. And yet, here I am just finding this absolutely hilarious.

Personally, I don't like tea so I understand why Cale doesn't like lemon tea. But I just see this interaction with Ron as a comedic relief and them bonding in their weird way. Sure, it gets repetitive, but after looking up what benefits a person gets from drinking lemon tea and knowing all the mess Cale gets into 24/7, it's pretty tame that lemon tea is the only thing he gives to Cale. These two are so emotionally stunted but that doesn't mean Cale will stay quiet if he truly doesn't like the tea Ron keeps giving him.

He's the master and Ron is the butler. Ron and Beacrox are both loyal to him. He can order Ron to stop giving him lemon tea anytime he wants. He talked down stupid nobles and priests for worse things they did and didn't do (because of Mary). I don't believe he can't tell Ron that he's being disrespectful to Cale as his butler.

If your reason is Cale is too scared of Ron to tell him to stop, then I think you don't understand their dynamic.

Cale finds everyone, not just Ron, scary. He finds the kids scary. He finds Choi Han scary. He finds the Whale Tribe scary. They're OP and can kill him before he can blink. And yet he's very close to all of them.

Ron scares him because Ron is an assassin and is very good at his job. And honestly? A normal person would be scared of Ron. But the difference is, Cale is not normal and he can also kill anyone if he wants to (are his ancient powers and skills he gained as KRS decoration to you guys?). Him being "scared" is him being respectful of Ron's abilities. He acknowledges Ron's strength but also finds the way he smiles when he can kill someone, "scary" (understandable).

So no, the whole lemon tea thing and him being scared of Ron that he can't tell him to stop giving the stupid tea doesn't make sense as a reason for hating or disliking Ron.

Oh, and last thing.

Ron actually gave Cale a sweet tea once early in the novel. I think it was before the war and Cale was stressed with a lot of things, including maintaining the shield around the territory. So...yeah, he shows concern for Cale in his own twisted way.

Again, layers.

___

That's my opinion about the matter. In short, Ron is a human being who can be selfish and dangerous. He's a person who has emotions despite being an assassin. He has his own goals. It's not that hard to understand him.

#tcf #tcf cale #tcf novel #tcf fanfic #tcf manhwa #tcf spoilers #tcf ron #tcf cale henituse #cale henituse #lcf cale #tcf beacrox #ron molan #beacrox molan #lcf manhwa #lcf novel #lcf

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deathsbestgirl · 2 days

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syzygy (rewatch)

i really love this episode. mulder and scully are so frustrated with each other, and "out of character" but not really. the most out of character part is the way they're not on the same page about how they investigate, that mulder isn't turning to scully for her thoughts, and scully isn't listening to his theories seriously. but the jealousy, the misunderstanding, their quips really are in character. it's just that they are so frustrated, their actions don't match the way they usually behave. like scully can be mean & petty, but she usually saves that just for mulder. their ribbing is usually friendly & affectionate, but it's like they're trying to piss each other off.

(maybe spoilers for s5) i used to say bad blood seemed more fitting for season three or four, but i think this is the season three version of bad blood. bad blood is so much more good natured, two best friends trying to poke & prod each other and get under the other's skin. syzygy has a similar vibe but not nearly as good natured. they're too frustrated, not listening, not understanding (and not concerned about the trouble they're in like bad blood lol)

anyway. before i get into specific scenes, i feel like i see a lot of people talk about margi & terri like they aren't out of character. i'm sure they have a little bit of mean girl streak in them, like the two best friends giggling in the back of class. i imagine it to be similar to mulder & scully. they save those things for each other and their friendship is something very different than their other relationships. detective white says they're good, smart kids. the last guy they kill, the one that is an accident on their part, he asks what happened to them. they're dressing differently, acting differently. they're mean and aggressive. by the end there's no facade about being nice or scared like there was earlier. they're criticized for being the stereotypical mean teenage girls (or rather, chris carter for writing them like this) but i kind of thought that was the point. obviously we don't see what they're like usually, but there are lines to suggest they're not behaving like themselves. and at the end, they are two scared girls, sobbing & leaning on each other. it looks to me like two girls who don't understand what's been happening. once the syzygy ended, moved out of it's powerful alignment, they crack and fall apart. they're going to be dealing with the fallout from this for a long time.

now into the mulder & scully scenes.

the first driving scene, they're already so annoyed with each other and we have no context about why. it's like they've put us right into that uncomfortable situation where a couple is obviously fighting but won't talk about it in front of other people, and you're stuck navigating a tension you don't understand and isn't your business...and it's affecting you anyway. (it's what detective white walks into and she doesn't understand, at the beginning she really is just trying to do her job. she wants the deaths to stop, she wants their help. she's trying to work with them.)

and i feel like i can't talk about this scene now without thinking of this post. mulder's telling scully detective white said a right at the stoplight, scully's arguing well this is a stop sign go left! and she's wrong. the way they keep the camera on the stop sign and then we see mulder driving back in the direction he said to go, chef's kiss.

in my tags on @casuallycryingoverbooks post i say how their headcanon makes this funnier. like. scully confusing her right & left, making her incredibly bad with directions is SO funny. her being to frustrated to listen to mulder (as he listens to another professional, another woman) and consider maybe she was telling him the wrong thing. like i fully believe scully (and others) would confuse their right & left when they have to reverse it constantly. and i think it's something she would generally remember to consider, so she would often catch it before making the mistake.

next scene, they actually meet "the detective" and scully is so unimpressed, it kills me. all of her usual decorum during cases is completely gone. there is no mask, no professionalism, no kindness. AT A FUNERAL. like that really kills me. this is what's out of character lol however, i do think she actually manages to ask her questions about evidence in a relatively typical scully manner. BUT YOU GUYS. @lesbianmarrow made a post about the framing of different shots, and this is the scene where you can see the shift happen.

you can see scully tracking mulder's movement with her eyes, until they switch to this pov. detective white now between them, caught in the middle of something she doesn't understand. in more than one way. (but also, what is he doing with his face!!)

but oh my god it's just so good?! she is so mad at mulder for his interjection about her skepticism, saying "don't ask me" -- something he will repeat at least one more time in this episode. (personally, i think this should have caught on like "sure. fine. whatever." they are both SO classically annoying in this episode. it's no wonder they're driving each other crazy.)

and when white walks away:

normally...they would enjoy this from each other. best friends and all that.

one of the things mulder & scully established in the pilot is the way they listen to each other and take each other seriously. scully doesn't mock mulder the way others do, instead she offers rational reasons for what's happening. she uses science. mulder is inclined to dismiss science because of what he's seen, but he doesn't (usually) outright dismiss it, especially once her science starts to give them some proof or explains the unexplainable or a solid place to start (when given the chance anyway).

and here, they're not really listening to each other, or maybe just not showing that they are. because later, mulder will tell white that scully is "rigid in a wonderful way" and they're still calling each other when terri & margi find them. they're not working together with their different theories as they usually do. both of their perspectives aren't being used to lead them in the right direction. they both follow different trails, and eventually they meet up later at the conclusion, to yell at the townspeople in sync (detective white with the townspeople this time).

anyway. the scene where they're interviewing margi & terri is interesting. these girls are telling mulder & scully separately about themselves. their grades, cheering, their best friend, future plans with their best friend. mulder & scully are so interesting here. scully is usually a little more forceful in interrogations, but i'm not sure this should be treated like an interrogation yet lol we don't see mulder say or ask anything, but we see scully say "yeah" to terri's introduction and ask questions, while mulder is, i don't even know. staring at the ceiling. (would love someone else's insight here. like i love it but i have no thoughts, no reasoning?)

THEN the new trio is back together listening to the recordings. mulder and scully six feet apart. and white another six feet away. none of them facing each other. none of them are actually on the same page and scully gets forceful again. and mulder does the thing AGAIN, only this time about scully's "impatience" and you can see scully's hand go to her hip as he speaks & circles around to white. oh. oh.

white looking up at mulder. idk why this struck me exactly. (and no scully in frame...)

and she asks him to explain the burning coffin -- "don't ask me." cut to scully offering an explanation, merely looking at the body claiming "i see nothing here to suggest otherwise." i just think that's funny because she's not doing any kind of examination, and yeah i'm sure there would be some visible signs that could suggest something. but she states it so definitively, i just think it's funny. (she always has her scientific theories, but i don't usually feel she's stating it's the Truth until she confirms it. like late on in quagmire she says "regardless of what i believe, there's no hard evidence to what you believe.")

we get "sure. fine. whatever." as she snaps on the latex. after telling them they were crazy lol

and this is when he "ditches" her. and like. detective white asks him what he's doing at her house and he literally freaking says "i was hooping you could help me solve the mystery of the horny beast?" like why did he change it from horned to horny. but anyway, is scully not examining the body to try to explain the fire? it's pretty normal for mulder to do something else until she has any information. SO what she's really mad about when they meet up again is that he went off investigating with detective white. which...also makes sense. LMAO scully is just so mad there's another woman he's working with, and seems to be listening to more than her. she HATES it.

but on a more serious note, here it looks to me like she's actually hurt. she really feels like he ditched her after they had a disagreement. and it kind of feels like a callback to conduit. mulder says to her. "okay scully, so we disagree. it's not the first time and it won't be the last." i don't think mulder thought he was ditching her. he was following a lead while she worked on finding something on boom's body. but he also didn't tell her what he was doing, while they were working a case. not necessarily out of the norm, they do often go in different directions, but they've usually had a lot more back & forth and an understanding. which is severely lacking in this episode. and mulder doesn't respond the way he usually would when scully's upset.

and what she doesn't know is that mulder does kind of defend her. "rigid in a wonderful way" suggesting that he does value her input (not in general, but even in this case. he's just frustrated with her behavior too), but right now, she isn't really acting like herself.

the next part kind of KILLS me. scully tries to explain why it isn't satanic cultists and what's really happening, the psychology of it?? (feel like mulder should be more knowledgeable about this and kind of agree lol) but what i really want to talk about is when they find the bones. mulder & scully both walk over, getting their gloves out. they realize the other is getting ready to put them on and take a look.

i couldn't find good shots on the archive but this gifset shows it. to me, it looks like they both thought for a moment they would have a small truce. until mulder kept talking. scully's reactions keeps registering to me more as hurt than anything else. where i think mulder isn't understanding what the problem is at all (which reminds me of never again). there's something about that way he doesn't see these reactions. they're either not facing each other, sometimes scully does this on purpose. but sometimes she's looking at him, and he isn't looking at her. something about that feels intentional too. because mulder can read her. it's why she often avoids his eyes (not that it usually matters). and she can't hide it when she looks in his eyes, that's why he cups her face & lifts her chin (beyond the sea & irresistible). it's something really sweet about them. the way they can't hide. but here, they don't want to share it.

the next scene is really why everything about scully strikes me as jealousy. before this one, it could be written off as professional jealousy. we've seen that in scully since season one. but we got a little taste of other jealousy in wotc.

i love this for so many reasons. scully is actually yelling at him for his behavior, and he may have made the comment about "this may not be the time" but he acts like he has no idea what's wrong here 🤣 and scully's yelling about his "comportment" but she specifically says "i am not going to be humiliated by you, in front of you..." and like. that's Insane! to me, humiliation is a Big feeling. not just embarrassed, humiliated.

mulder leaning on the wall & the script make me think he does actually understand. season three is a real turning point in their relationship. feelings are coming to the surface despite the ways they try to suppress or deny them. there's a growing awareness, and after then hell of season two, how deep their trust goes, how important their partnership & work is...well it's a struggle. i'm always saying it's a journey. and i think of season three as peak best friends, which yes! but it's just never so simple with these two. there have been layers from the beginning.

on top of all that, they're standing so close. mulder leans in to smell her (to see if she's the one wearing "his favorite perfume," they're invading each other's space again. the eye contact happens!!! and when she storms off, mulder falls against the wall "feeling somehow like he's betrayed a lover." which he hasn't, not yet.

and then my personal favorite part, that also makes me a little queasy...

scully is in her motel room, smoking and angrily muttering about detective white. mulder's in his room mixing a drink in the bottle in the craziest way i've ever seen (but i do remember seeing people talk about this before. cannot for the life of me remember what it was, but apparently it isn't unheard of. except for mulder lol)

and when scully gets the call, she just barges into mulder's room. seeing detective white on top of mulder. what she didn't see was mulder trying to get white out of his room and both of them talking about feeling "weird." i think i've said this somewhere but if scully was in her right mind, if she wasn't so mad at mulder & thought they were sticking around for white...she would have clocked what was happening. and this was the betrayal mulder felt, this is why she's been jealous. but they're partners, friends. they aren't dating. but everything has been palpably shifting for them. they're losing their denial.

(and i just have to say that white was assaulting mulder. this was not consensual. if he really had much to drink, unclear. and white isn't in her right mind either. but.....we don't excuse murder & sa because someone feels weird.)

all of it leading to THIS. just incredible. scully's anger (and hurt) kicking up. feeling justified in how she's been feeling & acting (which is also objectively unprofessional. she's usually the one trying not to step on toes & keep a good relationship with the local pd and here she is just. not doing any of that. she is obnoxious & pushy & condescending. her usual empathy & understanding is almost non-existent.) describing mulder as a "big macho man" is so funny. that's never the impression given to the audience, or scully. they were equals from the beginning, respect a core foundation of their relationship. mulder making fun of her height, hilarious, but also i don't think he's ever made fun of her for that before or after this.

in these two scenes they're both muttering about each other, the things the other said that pissed them off. what's going on between them is personal. they don't get like this about disagreeing on a case. scully always follows him, she questions him, she tries to understand but she doesn't get angry — confused & frustrated, absolutely.

mulder asking white to go with scully is also Insane. and i think it was an important decision. he's the driver (i think it helps him) and he doesn't want to drive with white. but it's absolutely insane because white is just. in the middle of whatever they have going on and she has no idea what she stepped into. but she does as asked and scully & white have such a tense car ride and have to team up when they find the townspeople marching down the road with guns. (AND WHO KILLED ALL THESE BIRDS?! just one of my favorite lines. and also top tier comedy when one hits the car windshield. and scully facing an angry mob of people terrified for their kids & towns, just saying like "it's illegal, there are no satanists" is sooooo funny to me. no fear.)

mulder went back to zrinka and then he finds margi in the garage where scott's body still is, as terri found scully. the girls both blame each other and immediately mulder is calling scully. "i've got your suspect and you've got mine. why does that make sense to me at this point?" i love this because this is the closest to a truce they've had this entire episode. they both did their thing and in the end it comes together. they trap margi & terri in a room together until the clocks strike midnight and everything goes quiet. they yell at everyone in sync. white opens the door to two terrified girls sobbing in each other's arms. it ends as the planets move out alignment, and they haven't solved a thing. are these girls even charged? they have absolutely no evidence, so doubtful.

and it ends as it began, mulder & scully in the car only this time they're leaving & scully's driving, speeding out of town. "shut up, mulder." "sure. fine. whatever."

#syzygy #the x files #mulder and scully #i love love LOVE this episode

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the-knight-of-destiny · 2 days

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Okay, so long long ramble under the cut about the nature of Ratgrinder Discourse™, I'll preface by saying that I don't want any of this to get hostile with anyone, because I think that's frankly silly to do over a webshow. That said I am also open to critical discussion so if anything I say doesn't make sense, or doesn't track I'm open to critique on it! Obviously spoilers up to Episode 19 of Fantasy High Junior Year underneath. Also it is a VERY long post, several pages, so don't click read more if that'll be overwhelming/too much at once. I just had to get my thoughts into words.

So, this will be long but I'll try to break it up. For clarity I want to establish my main point and give a quick TL;DR here, so here's the short version, long version even further below. My main points are as follows: 1: It is okay to not be happy with how a narrative is going in a show/story you enjoy. Critique is not hate, if anything it's a form of praise in a way. People wouldn't be having such long and frequent discourse about D20 and it's current season if they didn't feel strongly. 2: Similarly, we as an audience have a very different perspective of the entire story unfolding compared to the Intrepid Heroes/Cast. I think a lot of people jump to assumptions about the cast's thought process when that really isn't something we can gauge beyond what they say in episode and on Adventuring Party. 3: For me at least, even if I am left unsatisfied by an ending it doesn't ruin the fun I had in a work. Now if you just wanted my bullet point thoughts without elaboration, there they are! The rest of this is going to be an insanely long ramble (seriously, exit now if you aren't up for that, it's pages long) that I don't expect anyone to read, but I like to get my thoughts outta my brain. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, in regards to the Ratgrinders dying in the fashion they have, there's been a lot of discussion on literally every place there is to discuss Dimension 20, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, I'm sure other places as well. Really it all comes back to one thing, Dungeons and Dragons is a game, but Dimension 20 is a show. We as viewers have some level of narrative expectation, now for everyone that's different. Some folks have specific hopes for plot and character arcs. Others just want a general vibe, but the cast are players. Sure they are performers, but they are players in a game in equal measure. I've alluded to this before but a lot of the sincere vitriol to antagonists thus far (and especially the Ratgrinders) comes from the fact that the players have been fully immersed in a world and as characters where the Ratgrinders have been a constant thorn in their side for tens of hours of play time. Obviously one can still not like how they've engaged with them (I'm still not sure how exactly I feel about it,) but a lot of it is coming from that distinct perspective. When Fig took Ruben out, she specifically was frustrated because she 'wasted her season' on him. There's a meta level of Fig being angry with Ruben as a character who shares a world with him, versus Emily being frustrated as a player that a lot of her in-game actions did not hash out. That's actually totally natural, by the way. The interesting way that DnD serves both as a narrative of the characters in the setting, but also of the players rolling dice is part of what makes actual play like Dimension 20 so interesting. It's why I think SOME of the disappointment with Brennan and the Intrepid Heroes comes from a strange place, we literally cannot experience the story the same way the cast have. We get a week between chunks of story, they film the episodes in batches. We can think for as long as we want about our critical thoughts, they have to improv on the fly. We get to watch the Ratgrinders as antagonists in a story, the IH are actively hindered in their gameplay by the Ratgrinders as enemies.

That said I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about some aspects of Protagonist Centric Morality™ in this. Oisin having a mildly flirty conversation with Adaine once when he had ulterior motives is a deeply awful manipulation, but Fig catfishing Ruben the better part of an entire year is her trying to reach out and understand him (?). Kipperlilly threatening to desecrate Eugenia's grave is deeply fucked up, but Riz openly advocating mutilating Oisin's body for tactical reasons, and Fabian loudly declaring he intends to do the same to Ivy for literally just his own self-satisfaction are 'fun unhinged moments'.

Before I go on, obviously the Ratgrinders are the bad guys. They're taking part in an evil plan, they've done villainous things throughout the season, especially very recently, etc. This isn't some argument that the Bad Kids are secretly the real monsters or something, obviously not. I just think it's odd that people read into the Bad Kids' actions in the best possible light at all times and the inverse for the Ratgrinders. This protagonist centric morality also comes down to the true reason behind any and all of Fantasy High's villain redemption. Ragh gets redeemed because the player characters think he's possibly useful and/or endearing. Aelwyn gets redeemed because she personally helps Adaine. The only one that Brennan really pushed forward on his own was Zayn, who they barely engaged with. People compare the Ratgrinders to Penelope and Dayne a lot, and understandably so. However I think this is sort of the complication and in my opinion, the silver bullet to understanding what's actually happening with the Ratgrinder's narrative place, Dayne more specifically. He does very little evil on screen. I mean, he injures Fabian and is most likely the one who killed Zayn, but comparatively to Aelwyn, he does almost nothing. He gets killed without so much as a thought, and in a fun (?) parallel to current Ratgrinder discourse, does actually have his body desecrated after death by Fabian. Because he hurt Fabian personally. Aelwyn gets forgiven of doing a lot of terrible shit (and this isn't Aelwyn hate, she's like my favorite NPC.) because it didn't directly affect any of the Bad Kids besides Adaine, and even the bad stuff that did affect Adaine can be sort of off-loaded onto their parents. So it's why I say this discourse is tough, people inevitably say "Well, the Ratgrinders are villains, of course they'll get killed." And this isn't inherently a wrong statement, they look at the bad things the group is doing and understand they must be stopped, why are people upset clearly bad guys get beat and/or killed in DnD games? Because they aren't actually getting killed in such brutal ways because they're bad guys, it's because they personally annoyed or hurt the Bad Kids. This is also why Ratgrinder fans often feel both frustrated and vindicated at once (I speculate, but I feel it's a safe assumption,) because on a meta level Kipperlilly is literally right. Her friends and likely herself are getting ripped to shreds because they crossed the special protagonists, because they started to really frustrate the Intrepid Heroes. The Bad Kids have forgiven atrocities before, but the Intrepid Heroes are really quick to dismiss and kill people they find annoying.

The ultimate example I feel of this, is Mary Ann. Ruben gets blasted into hell because his actions personally annoyed the players, Ivy gets stabbed to death while being repeatedly insulted and threatened with mutilation because her actions personally annoyed the players.

But Mary Ann is the one they all think they can redeem or save, because her personality is more cute and endearing to the players. That kind of says it all better than I ever could.

#fhjy #fantasy high #dimension 20 #rat grinders #ratgrinder discourse #gosh this is super fucking long and i apologize if it floods any of your dashes #i just have a lot of thoughts on the difference between players and characters in dnd actual play #look i am ok with the rat grinders dying and i love the bad kids and intrepid heroes #but i think a lot of people don't engage with the critique in a fair light #there is a clear dissonance of when the players feel the need to off an antagonist vs how evil the antagonist actually is #and it's mostly fueled by just how annoying they as players happen to find that specific antagonist #also brennan is doing his best to make the ratgrinders somewhat complex imo but is also pitching the intrepid heroes softballs #he doesn't want to make his friends feel bad as players for doing things they find fun in a game #so he's not going to push back too hard even if it might make sense for him to do so

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sunlighthroughthe-ashes · 3 days

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I love reading your thoughts on Lovely Runner! The show does things to my heart and soul that I can't put to words. So far my favorite scene in the show is in the beginning of episode 11 when Sunjae tells Sol, "I'll be running diligently to 2023, where you'll be." I think it's so beautiful and profound and a true testament of Soljae's love. I'm sad that I don't see more people talking about it. What did you think of that scene?

hi there, anon! <33

thank you so much for reaching out to me and appreciating my posts — i've loved being able to offer my perspective on this show, which is so dear to my heart, and which has healed me in ways i didn't even think were possible.

to begin with, i absolutely agree — this was a beautiful scene. for me, what struck me most about sunjae's declaration was how simple it was — yet it remained so profoundly moving.

as a viewer, it doesn't strike us as even slightly odd that sunjae is ready to wait over a decade — it doesn't seem unrealistic that this boy will remain alone for fifteen years, with nothing but the warmth of sol's memory to steady him. we don't even question the logistics of such a promise. that's how palpable sunjae's love for sol is — it leaks through everything: his eyes, his hands, the ways they can touch sol without touching.

we believe it because sunjae believes it — there's no arguing against the conviction of his affection, the all-consuming gravity of it.

critic and poet mark doty once said that "beauty is simply accuracy; to come as close as we can to what seems to be the real."

this is exactly what's so spellbindingly compelling about sunjae's promise — the entire moment: it's real. it's raw. it's vulnerable. his words are plain, direct, to the point — but you can see sunjae's unshakeable faith in his relationship with sol shine through.

"you are the question at the end of every crossroad — you are my choice, and i will be blessed to make it every single day." this is what his eyes say — this is what we (and sol) take as ironclad fact, and why wouldn't we? sunjae has loved her as easily as the air entering our lungs.

what are fifteen years in front of this love of sapling strength — a green seed ready to wait winter after winter, surviving on just the possibility of growth. on the hope of seeing sol again; loving her again — even if death dogs sunjae's footsteps. it's worth it for him — and because of him, it's worth it for us too.

who can get in the way of such a thing?

even time kneels in service to such devotion.

#lovely runner #byeon woo seok #kdrama #kim hye yoon #tvn drama #tvn lovely runner #kdrama lover #tvn #fantasy kdrama #rom com kdrama

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justatalkingface · 11 months

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I'm really sorry if this will sound confused...I think I saw a post of yours talking how MPA wouldn't mind a quirkless as long said person proves to be strong.

You think MPA hates quirkless or mutants? Bc the idea of them not hating a quirkless person(proving said person is useful) is interesting way more than (they want to to kill everoyne who is quirkless)

Also what was their end goal?

Alright, I know what you're talking about. The ask on my Quirkless post has the anon mention, among other things, the MLA... but ultimately, I thought they were irrelevant to the question at hand, so I didn't mention anything about them in the post.

But, well. It's relevant now!

Alright, so. On MLA and the Quirkless, I think to be through I have to say that, while they don't actually care about the Quirkless now, in the newer incarnation, since they're almost extinct and thus are a non-factor, the original MLA probably cared a whole lot, because they were fighting against them.

In the original conception of them MLA and Destro were fighting for Quirk rights against the government who was trying to control them (this is the point where the draconian and honestly kind of nuts Quirk laws come from), and while it doesn't mention it, considering their general... Quirk supremist, militant nature, and the fact his mom was killed by an anti-Quirkist (which, by implication, means they were all Quirkless, even if the term wasn't a thing at that point), I can't really see them not fighting against the normal people.

Interestingly, despite this being a seemingly obvious point for them do, somehow no one ever... says MLA did this? Which is strange. Or, maybe 'strange'. Hmm. I wonder, why would Hori not want to mention something obvious about a topic he stopped talking about years ago?

*judging look intensifies*

But yeah. That's first generation MLA is defined by the Quirk vs Normal political landscape. The second generation is focused around Quirk rights as well, but more focused on the heroes as the extension of the government and symbol of society. I can't really see them thinking about a Quirkless person, but if it ever came up, there's no way they would let on in. Unlike heroics, where it's a question about abilities, and everyone looking at what heroes do and say, 'But, a Quirkless person could do that!', the MLA are fundamentally extremists. Sure, the higher ranks are probably more practical (and hypocritical, and generally power hungry), and they'd be willing to use a Quirkless person if it was relevant, they'd never let someone so fundamentally opposed to the very foundation of their ideals into their organization. Hell, there's a real question if they'd even let them live.

Mutants... actually, that's an interesting thought.

On the face of it, they have Quirks, so of course they'd be fine with them, right? But, when you look at the main MLA members... oddly enough, you find not one mutant in their ranks. In fact, they're the only villains without one in their leadership somewhere (admittedly, I'm a little hand waggly about Chronostasis as a mutant Quirk, but whatever).

I can see a couple of reasons for this: Option One, Hori was tired, and doesn't want to do the extra work making a mutant character. Harsh, but possible. Also boring.

The second option is that, well, the mutants just... aren't strong enough to make it into higher levels of their organization, or versatile, since it is theoretically built around Quirk strength. I... when I think about it, I can't really point out a 'strong' mutant Quirk. Oh, sure, there's decent ones, but, but when compared to the highest end Quirks we see (ignoring AFO and OFA), they're not comparable to people like Endeavour, or Geten, or even Bakugou, they can't match sheer firepower they can offer up. Nor can I really think of a supportive one like Shinso, La Brava or Trumpet. A mutant Quirk will make you stronger than a Plain Jane human, sure, but if your power is 'I'm big and strong and I can survive a car hitting me without major issue', and my power is, 'Fuck you, I vomit lasers'... as long as I don't fuck it up, the odds are going to be in my favor. Mutant Quirks, in that respect, seem inherently limiting on a sheer power level kind of basis, and MLA is exactly the kind of organization to focus on that in a more realistic way than the heroic rankings do.

The third and final option is... well. They're racist. Or Quirkiest? Mutantist? I'm not actually sure we have a term for people who are opposed to mutants... but yeah. They are a modern organization, built from modern people, and anti-mutant sentiment is (theoretically) a thing that is happening in MHA. Quite simply, their biases could be influencing them to not value mutants to their full extent.

Ultimately, that's me just thinking too much on a minor detail, but hey, that's probably why people keep asking me things.

On their end goal... you know how the Quirk laws in MHA don't make sense, for an average person? Why can't a random person use their minor Quirk to help them do something when it doesn't harm anyone or cause disruption?

It's because those laws are set up to restrict Quirk use and try to force everything to be like it was before Quirks, and were created in those earlier times when Quirks were coming in and society was trying to adjust; the powers that be fought against the Quirked, but the realized it was hopeless to stop it, so they changed their tactics. If the government couldn't stop people from being born with powers, and can't take away the powers, it settled on taking away the right to use those powers. The MLA is opposed to that, considering it a basic human right, but they're the crazy radical end of that spectrum, who has skipped over things like, 'reform the laws' and went straight to 'Let's overthrow the government and make a new one!'

Theoretically, they're going to make a new order built around Quirks, where the strong dominate... basiclly, a place where everyone runs off Bakugou-logic. I say theoretically, because, well, you need a lot of people to run a country, and they need skills beyond having a magma fist. Because, you know, there's a reason why the world isn't run off of Bakugou-logic.

In all honesty, I think it would, in an 'ideal' situation for the MLA, where there are no AFOs or OFAs to stop them, end up being more about putting Re-Destro in charge than anything, since I'm not sure what they have, plan wise, for a Quirk based government beyond, 'Powerful Quirks and Freedom, ???, profit!', and I doubt that long term they'd have any stability. Ultimately, grand ideals aside, they're more focused on the 'bring down the government now!' than anything about what happens after that.

#ask #MLA #mutants #Quirkless #for once i don't think this is a critical post?

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